Cotton-harvester



(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 1.

G. N. TGDD.

COTTON HARVESTER.

No.l 275,094.

Patented Apr.3,1883.

N. PERES Pimwumgnpher. wzlhingcn. D. c.

(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sh t 2.

G. N. TODD.

` ooTToN HARVESTER. No. 275,094. Patented Apr.3,1883.

1 |11fllllllmnnmulllJ 3 ASheets-Sheets 3.

(No Model.)

G.1\I.T0DD. COTTON HARVESTER.

Patented Apr. 3,- 1883.

45cm mim:

jiiamgya N. PETERS. Phammmgmphen wnxhingwn. D. C.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE N. TODD, 0F FORT SMlTH,-ARKANSAS.

COTTON-HARVESTER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 275,094, dated April 3,1883.

Application liled March T, 1883. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE N. TODD, a citizen of the United States,residing at Fort Smith, in the county of Sebastian and State ofArkansas, have invented a new and useful Improvement inCotton-Harvesters, ot' which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to that class of cottonharvesters which areoperated to pick the cottou by means of' certain parts coming in contactwith the cotton as the machine advances along the cotton-row, thepicking movements of said parts being caused by the rotation of thewheels ofthe machine rolling on the ground.

The object of-my invention is to adapt a machine to pick all the ripecotton from a row of plants automatically, with no other assistance thanmerely being drawn and guided along' the row.

To this end it consists in the construction and combination of partsforming a cottonharvester, hereinafter described and claimed, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is aperspective view of my cotton. harvester, showing certain parts of theinterior through breaks in the casing. Fig. 2 is a rear end elevation,and Fig. 3 is a top view of the same with the cover removed. Fig. 4 isan end elevation of the picking device; and Fig. 5 is an end view of amodification of the bars G, shown plane in Fig. 4.

A represents a series of horizontal cylindrical bristle brushes,journaled one above the other, to revolve in bearings in the frame B.This frame is mounted on two large wheels, b b, which roll on the groundand support the machine. Each wheel b is provided with a pinion, c, onits hub, which engages aspurgear, G, on a short shaft, D, which hasabeveled gear, d, at its inner end, engaging a beveled gear, e, on theshaft of one of the cylindrical brushes A.

E represents a system of spur-gears on the ends of the brushes A,engaging each other in a vertical column to revolve all the brushes bythe action of the. beveled gears d e.

A principal feature of my invention is the angling position of mypickers. The cylindricalbrushes and the gearing which drives them are induplicate sets, one set to run on each side of the row of cotton-plants,and each set operated independently by the main wheel on ,I

that side. The vertical planes of the two sets of horizontal brushes orpickers stand at an angle to each other, opening forward and convergingtoward the rear, as shown in Fig. 3, and the supporting-frameB iscorrespondingly converging to carry the brushes in the position shown.By this means the side projecting branches will first come in contactwith the pickers. Being heid between them as the machine advances, theywill be bent forward, the narrow exit at the rear bringing the mainstalk nearer to the brushes, they all the time revolving and picking thecotton therefrom until at the rear end of the machine the oppositebrushes will be so close together as to reach with their long bristlesthe smaller branches and gather the cotton from the inner bolls, nearthe main stalk. These horizontal pickerbrushes run near enough totheground to pick the cotton from the smallest plants, and they extend highenough to reach the top of all cotton of usual growth, and the tops ofextremely high bushes will be bent down by the cross-roller F to passbetween the pickers. The side vertical rollers,f, will have the sameeffect in assisting extremely long branches to pass between the pickers.

G represents a great number of vertical parallel bars, of' straight orserpentine form, against which the brushes revolve, projecting throughthe spaces between these bars.

g represents a cylinder in the inside of the casing of the machine,opposite and along each brush-cylinder. Each cylinder g is provided withmetallic teeth, either straight, as in Fig. 4, or curved, as in Fig. '6,which, in revolving meet the brushes between the bars G, and strip thecotton from the brushes between the bars and carry it around in thedirection ot' the arrows H to the stationary brushes h, which take thecotton from the strippers and drop it to the carrying-receptacles Ibelow, or to the carrierbelts t', which are caused to travel the lengthof the picking-cylinders, as shown in Fig. 1, and thence upward througha trough, J, to the rear receptacles, j. The toothed cylinders g aregeared, by the gears in, each to the rear side of' roo its brush-gear E.

The large wheels b run in the water-furrows between the cotton-rows, andI provide two small wheels, K, to run on the rows beside the plants tosupport the rear end ofthe machine, whose center of gravity is behindthe axle 7c of the large wheels, and the small wheels are hung to therear ot' the machine, with their lower faces enough above the lowerfaces of the large wheels to accommodate the usual height of the earthin the row. By this means the machine will be caused to follow thecontour of the earth in the row. rIhe forward end of the machine,beingwide enough to escape the row and elevated above the water-furrows, hassufficient elevation to prevent its points being nosed into the ground.

The shafts L are journaled upon the axle of wheels b to allow themachine to oscillate freely to and fro between them, and they areconnected together by means of a yoke-shaped bar, l, extendingfreelyover the top of the machine.

The team is attached to the forward ends of the shafts to travel eachside of the row of cotton. f

In picking cotton with this machine it is drawn along straddling the rowof cotton to be picked, with the widest opening between thepicking-cylinderbrushesibrward. Thebrushes, revolving, draw the branchesof the plant in between them and continue to brush the cotton therefromuntil the machine passes and allows the bushes to spring back to theirnatural position. Each set of brushes, advancing angularly forward,first seizes the branches by their ends and gradually approaches thestalk, taking in the short branches, thus cleaning the cotton from thewhole plant. The leaves and other trash which may be at the same timegathered by the brushes will be stopped bythe bars G from entering themachine, and be carried past the openings between the bars and droppedon the ground, while the cotton fiber, adhering to the bristles of thebrushes, will be carried between thel bars Cr and saved clean and freeof trash inside the machine, as before described. Thus it serves as acotton separator and cleaner, saving much of the future worlrusuallyrequired for this purpose. On account of the elasticity of the bristles,which act on the branches and bolls of cotton in picking the fibertherefrom, the plants will not be broken, pulled up, or otherwiseinjured in the act of picking cotton.

Vhat l claim as my invention is- 1. In a cotton-harvester, the pickersconsisting of two series of revolving horizontal eylindrical brushes,the brushes of each series placed one above the other, and the twoseries forming an angle with each other, opening forward andconvergingtoward therear, shaped as described.

2. The combination, with the revolving horizontal cylindrical brushes A,of the vertical bars G, the revolving metallic-toothed cylinders g, andthe stationary brushes h, as and for the purpose specified.

3. The combination, with the two converging series of horizontalrevolving cylindrical brushes, each series having` a number of brushesone above the other, and the two series forming an angle with eachother, opening forward and converging toward the rear, of a convergingframe having bearings for said brushes to revolve in, as shown anddescribed.

4. The combination, with the brush-cylinders A and their gears E, of thetoothed cylinder-strippers g, and their gears m, engaging said gears Eat the rear,A as shown and described. I

5. The combination, with the frame B, having a converging passagelongitudinally through it, and the wheels b b, of the wheels K K,journaled to the rear of said frame, at the ends of the inner convergingsides thereof, the lower faces of said wheels K K being higher than thelower faces of the wheels b b, as and for the purpose specified.

GEORGE N. TODD. lVitnesses:

W. X. STEVENS, Guo. S. BROCK.

tlf.

